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Friday, January 4, 2013

2012 Books -- and more

And, of course, I've got mine.
I want to lead off with this one that gives great insight into decision and discovery under conditions of uncertainty (the title says it all): "The theory that would not die: how bayes’ rule cracked the enigma code, hunted down russian submarines, and emerged triumphant from two centuries of controversy" by Sharon Bertsch Mcgrayne

Here's another one from Kahneman about cognitive skills, thinking processes, and cognitive bias: "Thinking, fast and slow" by Daniel Kahneman

This may be the one best book on change management: "Leading Change" by John P. Kotter

For the agile manager and practitioner, this is a thorough treatment of the subject matter. It gives good advice for bost tester and test manager: "Agile Testing" by Lisa Crispin and Janet Gregory

Leffingwell is one of the two best authors in the agile business (Mike Cohn is the other). Here's Leffingwell waxing on requirements: "Agile Software Requirements Lean Requirements Practices for Teams, Programs, and the Enterprise" by Dean Leffingwell

You don't find this one on too many PM lists, but if you engage in competive bidding and proposal gamesmanship, give this a read: "Game theory 101; the basics" by William Spaniel

And, for a change of pace, but nontheless full of lessons for managers, architects, and system engineers, read: "The revenge of geography" by Robert Kaplan. This is a geopolitical book but replete with many examples of boundary strategies, culture impediments and impacts, and architecture strategies that affect projects.

Some recommended links I fell onto in 2012:
For the agile practitioner going for their PMI ACP: click here for a handy ppt explanation of the whole thing, plus some good test questions